People, Locations, Episodes

Nat Turner, Abolitionist born

On this date in 1800, Nat Turner, a Black American slave and the leader of a Black slave revolt, was born.

He was born on a plantation in Southampton County, Virginia. Turner was a popular religious leader among his fellow slaves and became convinced that he had been chosen by God to lead his people to freedom. On August 21, 1831, he and five other slaves killed their master and his family and, joined by about 60 blacks from neighboring plantations, started a general revolt.

Gullah Jack, Abolitionist born

*The birth of Gullah Jack is celebrated on this date in c 1800. He was an African conjurer and abolitionist.  Little was known about his background, except that he was from Angola and was shipped from Zanzibar to America under Zephaniah Kingsley’s direction. He was sent first to Florida, to the Kingsley Plantation. Also known as Counter Jack and […]

Charles Trowbridge, Military Officer born

*Charles Trowbridge was born on this date in 1835. He was a White American soldier, abolitionist, and politician.

Charles Tyler Trowbridge was from Morristown, New Jersey in an area known as Trowbridge Mountain. He was third of seven children born to Elijah Freeman Trowbridge and Temperance Ludlow Muchmore. His family moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1854. In 1857 he married Emeline Haviland Jackson at Freehold, New Jersey. They had one child, Ida Emeline Trowbridge who died in 1858.

Lydia Child, Abolitionist Writer born

*Lydia Maria Francis Child was born on this date in 1802. She was a White American abolitionist writer.

From Medford, Massachusetts, Child began to write popular historical novels in her twenties. In 1826 she established a periodical for children called Juvenile Miscellany and her book, The Frugal Housewife 1829, was particularly popular. After hearing William Lloyd Garrison speak at a public meeting in 1831, Child began her involvement in the campaign against slavery. This included her book An Appeal in Favor of that Class of Americans Called Africans 1833.

Elijah Lovejoy, Minister, and Abolitionist born

Elijah Parish Lovejoy was born on this date in 1802. He was a White American abolitionist.

Mary M. Blackford, Abolitionist born

*Mary Minor Blackford was born on this date in 1802. She was a white-American abolitionist.  A native of Fredericksburg, VA, Mary Berkeley Minor was the daughter of John Minor and his second wife, Lucy Landon Carter Minor. She was the only daughter of eight children; her father died when she was thirteen. She received education […]

Prudence Crandall, Educator, and Abolitionist born

*Prudence Crandall was born on this date in 1803. She was a White American abolitionist.

Hiram Wilson, Abolitionist born.

*Hiram Wilson was born on this date in 1803. He was a white-American anti-slavery abolitionist. Hiram Wilson, the son of Polly McCoy and John Wilson, was born in Acworth, New Hampshire. He attended the Oneida Institute in upstate New York, which was at that time the most abolitionist school in the country. He attended a […]

Theodore Weld, Abolitionist, and Writer born

*Theodore Weld was born on this date in 1803. He was a white-American writer, editor, speaker, and organizer. He was an early architect of the American abolitionist movement during its formative years from 1830 through 1844.   Born in Hampton, Connecticut, Theodore Dwight Weld was the son of Congregational ministers Ludovicus Weld and Elizabeth Clark Weld. His brother, Ezra Greenleaf Weld, […]

Sarah M. Douglass, Writer, and Teacher born

The birth of Sarah Mapps Douglass in 1806 is marked on this date. She was a Black educator and abolitionist.

Born in Philadelphia, Douglass was the daughter of Robert Douglass and Grace Bustill Douglass. Her grandfather was Cyrus Bustill, a Quaker, who owned a bakery, operated a school, and was one of the early members of the Free African Society, the first Afro-American charity organization. Her mother operated a millinery store next to the family bakery. Young Douglass entered the “colored” school that her mother and the wealthy Negro shipbuilder James Forten established in 1819.

Margaretta Forten, Suffragist, and Abolitionist born

*Margaretta Forten was born on this date in 1806. She was a Black suffragist and abolitionist. Margaretta Forten was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her parents, Charlotte Vandine Forten and James Forten, were abolitionists, and her father founded the American Moral Reform Society. Due to the exclusion of women from the American Anti-Slavery Society, Forten, with her mother Charlotte and sisters […]

James Pennington, Author, and Abolitionist born

The birth of the Reverend James William Charles Pennington in 1807 is celebrated on this date. He was a Black educator, clergyman, orator, author, and abolitionist.

Samuel Bass, Laborer and Abolitionist born

*Samuel Bass’s birth is celebrated on October 30, 1807. He was a white-Canadian laborer and abolitionist. Bass was born and raised in Augusta Township, Upper Canada (now Ontario). His parents were John and Hannah Lakins Bass, who had twelve children. His grandparents, Adonijah and Lydia Draper Bass were United Empire Loyalists who lived in Walloomsac, […]

Salmon P. Chase, Abolitionist, and Judge born

Salmon Portland Chase, a white man, was born on this date in 1808. He was a White American teacher, abolitionist, lawyer, and judge.

Anne Hampton, Domestic and Chef born.

*Anne Hampton was born on this date in 1808. She was a free Black domestic and chef. She was raised in Hudson Falls, New York, and was of African, Indigenous, and European ancestry. In 1829, she married Solomon Northup, and she gave birth to their children Elizabeth in 1831, Margaret in 1833, and Alonzo Northup […]